The technology relates to a follow-up start control device for a vehicle that causes an automatic start of an own vehicle following a start of a preceding vehicle.
An adaptive cruise control (ACC) system with an automatic maintaining control of an inter-vehicle distance has been previously known. The ACC system performs a constant-speed traveling control that includes maintaining a set vehicle speed in a case with no preceding vehicle. The ACC system performs a follow-up traveling control that includes, in a case with a preceding vehicle being detected, allowing the own vehicle to follow the preceding vehicle while maintaining a follow-up inter-vehicle distance.
Moreover, recently, also known is a system in which an application range of the ACC system is extended to a low-speed range of 0 [km/h] or more, to impart a function of traffic jam assistance (TJA) to the system. The TJA function is an automatic follow-up function in the traffic jam. In the ACC system with the TJA function, upon detecting a stop of a preceding vehicle as a follow-up target, the ACC system causes a start-up of a follow-up start control. The follow-up start control includes causing an automatic stop of an own vehicle following the stop of the preceding vehicle, detecting a start of the preceding vehicle, and thereafter, causing an automatic start of the own vehicle following the start of the preceding vehicle.
When the own vehicle gets caught in a traffic jam and remain stopped for a long time, there is higher possibility that a pedestrian, a bicycle, or other moving bodies come around frontward of the own vehicle. The ACC control therefore includes clocking elapsed time from the follow-up stop of the own vehicle to the start of the preceding vehicle, and cancelling the follow-up automatic start control in a case where the elapsed time is longer than pre-set follow-up start permission time. The ACC control further includes keeping the own vehicle stopped until the driver exhibits an intention of re-starting, e.g., until the driver steps down an accelerator pedal, or until the driver turns on an automatic operation switch again.
Regarding such a case, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 2013-203380 discloses a technique of determining a start of a traffic jam in a case where a control unit detects turning-ON of hazard lights, and extending pre-set normal follow-up start permission time by set time. This saves the driver performing a complicated start operation repetitively in a traffic jam, leading to reduction in a load involved in the start operation.